CORETTA, a great modern bistro in the Batignolles

Coretta has received much laudatory coverage since it’s opening in late 2013. It was impossible to book a table during the first months of service, so we let the soufflé collapse and took another chance recently. I managed to get a table for the first service, at 7:30 which I highly recommend because you’ll have the chance to admire the great view from the second floor on the Parc Martin Luther King. The restaurant’s decor is very neat, modern with a Nordic touch (in a more sophisticated way than Ikea though).

I started off with a superb appetizer: asparagus, hazelnuts and ricotta paccheri. The paccheri were a real discovery for me, I loved how these sort of giant rigatoni which look like big round tubes were filled with this delicious ricotta cream. The texture matched perfectly with the crisp asparagus and the crunchy hazelnuts. My friend had the marinated seam bream, avocado and sesame. The apple marinade was delicious, and brought a great tangy touch to the appetizer.

The pork belly is a mainstay dish at Coretta, it came slightly pink on top of two big onions. I loved how the pork was rightly cooked, crispy outside and very tender inside. As to Alice, she was very satisfied with her pollack, sweet potatoes and carrot-ginger puree. The fish was very lean and sweet, and it combined well with the puree.

For desserts, go for the homemade cinnamon bun. It came right away from the oven, still hot and fluffy. The vanilla ice-cream responded perfectly to the spicy cinnamon flavors. The other dessert, a dark chocolate ganache coming with a corn ice cream and popcorn, was less impressive, but we quickly forgot about this deceptive dessert as the rest of the meal was perfect.

Coretta is not only a solid add to a Parisian neighborhood which stayed off the bistronomie radar for too long, it’s also worth a detour, just like we did that night.